Turkey

Turkey.  How interesting that the pagan Temple of Artemis yielded stones for the Christian Temple of St John which later yielded stones for the mosque.

The Temple of St John has a lot to see. More than any site so far, it looks like it is under construction...a bit like a Roman lumberyard.

Then we saw the ruins of Ephesus, an active archeological site. Ephesus is quite impressive. The lunch within the ruins was memorable, not so much for the local wine as for the local food.

After lunch, we went to see the rug making demonstration, after which we got the Turkish hard-sell. It did provide a chance to sample Raki in Turkey. We resisted the hard-sell and returned to the ship.

Korsan was a great guide

Rhodes

Rhodes. Home of one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the harbor Helios statue. Our impression that this was one of the nicest stops might have been influenced by the fact that we spent 3 hours at the beautiful Tsampika beach. We rode there with an open middle door for air conditioning. The water was clear and cool, the sand hot. The local cantina was hosted by some very nice folks who served tasty gyros and taziki.  After returning to the boat we went to town, shopped, ate Lebanese yeros, and shopped some more.

Crab Shack for dinner.

Great day. 

Crete

Heraklion in Crete was our port on day 9.  The Boutari winery tour was great. The winery movie was odd. 

We picked up a couple of bottles of Greek wine to drink on the ship. Then we were on to the Palace of Knossos, which we decided Allison would like. It turns out that the Minoans were ahead of the curve in terms of gender equity. Evans did a nice job promoting the site (and the island) and at the same time making somewhat of a mess of the excavation and reconstruction.  

Stupid tourists don't help.

Once back to the ship we enjoyed the Boutari rose ("Poze").  A little dizzy, yet very nice, dry, and quite aromatic. 

Rome

Pics only.

Sicily

This trip is surprisingly tiring!  We were up again today at 6:30 for excursion to Cefalu. We first stopped at the Cathedral, which was mostly remarkable for appearing unfinished. We then split from the group and made our way down to the sea where we dipped out toes in the water. Gelato. The bus ride back was remarkable for the views of the monument to victims of the mafia, designed in a stark, modern style unlike anything so far on the trip.  

Malta

Malta.

Home of Knights of St John.

Hagar Qim temple.

Mdina Church of Sts. Peter and Paul.

Cathedral of St John in Valetta with Beheading of John by Caravaggio.

Discovered Pano setting on the iPhone.

Florence

We docked in Livorno and travelled to Florence on day 3. Florence. Lisa's favorite city. Church of Santa Croce with the Tombs of Michalangelo, Dante, Machiavelli.  Palazzo Vecchio. Uffizi Gallery.  Caprese salad and cannoli for lunch. Then Cathedral of Santa Maria fel Fiore (Duomo).  The Baptistry of San Giovanni.

We climbed the 414 steps of the Bell Tower for some amazing views. Then we ate mango and passion fruit gelato.